Wisconsin basketball (22-6, 12-5 Big Ten) enters the final turn of the regular season just two games back of Michigan State and Michigan for first place in the Big Ten standings.

 

The Badgers have three games remaining: at Michigan State, at Minnesota and vs. Penn State. While unlikely, the team can still win out, get some help and clinch a share of the conference title.

 

The first step for that scenario to come to fruition is a win at Michigan State on Sunday. The Badgers enter the game as the higher ranked team in KenPom (No. 8 vs. No. 10) and the NCAA NET (No. 12 vs. No. 13). But Michigan State has played above its perceived ability all season, including in recent wins at Maryland and at Michigan. The Spartans are also one of the top rebounding teams in the sport, an area where the Badgers occasionally struggle, and get the game in the Breslin Center — one of the toughest places to play in the sport.

 

Wisconsin has won two straight road games over its rival. It will face a tough task as it attempts to extend that streak to three.

 

As the hours count down before Sunday’s marquee matchup, it’s worth taking a look at how ESPN’s BPI forecasts the rest of the Badgers’ season. Here are the index’s implied odds for every remaining game, as well as for the team’s outside chance at a conference title:

 

March 2 at Michigan State

Wisconsin enters Sunday’s matchup against Michigan State as the clear underdog. The game’s location should play a major role in that regard, as should Michigan State’s recent string of wins against top opponents. Wisconsin needs a win to extend any outside chance at a conference title. To do so, the team will need season-best efforts from forwards Steven Crowl and Nolan Winter, plus big offensive showings from John Tonje and John Blackwell.

 

ESPN forecast: Michigan State 66.6%, Wisconsin 33.4%

 

March 5 at Minnesota

Wisconsin’s trip to Minnesota could become a dangerous trap game, especially if the Badgers beat the Spartans. Minnesota has quietly won three of six, jumping into the 15-team Big Ten Tournament field. ESPN’s BPI still sees the Badgers as clear favorites. Wisconsin fans should hope that the team’s let-down against Oregon becomes its only such result during the stretch run.

 

ESPN forecast: Wisconsin 75.8%, Minnesota 24.2%

 

March 8 vs. Penn State

Wisconsin closes the season at home against a Penn State team that is among the conference’s worst. The team has lost eight of its last 10, the latest a road loss at Indiana. It is set to miss the 15-team conference tournament field. Wisconsin’s implied odds, therefore, are no surprise. The bigger question is whether the game carries Big Ten title stakes.

 

ESPN forecast: Wisconsin 84.9%, Penn State 15.1%

 

In all, BPI lists Wisconsin’s odds to win out at 21.4%.

 

Conference Title Odds

Michigan State: 81.9% (to clinch at least a share of the title)

Michigan: 40.3%

Wisconsin: 4.3%

 

Whoa! It appears like a scorching BBQ grill is being used to cook the college football programs.

It was expected that things would settle down now that the 2024 season was over.

However, not everyone is fortunate enough to take use of that calming environment.

Luke Fickell, the head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers, turns out to be in the tribe of the unlucky one.

There is no surprise about this. Fickell ultimately proved to be a letdown, as the Badgers ended the season with a 5-7 record.

He discovers four other friends whose boats are sinking as well, so don’t worry.

Fans of Wisconsin have been really frustrated with Fickell.

They have, after all, already forgotten what victory truly tastes like.

Fans have been demanding his dismissal since they are currently 13-13 overall during his reign.

Fickell’s team had finished a dismal 5-7 campaign that included crushing defeats to rivals Minnesota, Iowa, and Nebraska.

As a direct parallel to his predecessor in Wisconsin, this further revealed his fragility.

Paul Chryst defeated Nebraska 6-0. Perhaps knowing that the Badgers paid someone like Fickell $7,725,000 hurts the supporters even more.

Since he assumed his position in November 2022, the program has become less glamorous.

It appears that the HC is unable to save himself this time.

All College Football posted the tweet from the College Football Report on their Instagram story on February 5. “College Football Head Coach Hot Seat Tiers” was the caption.

It had a table with several categories, including “Icemen,” “Hot Seat,” “Warm Seat,” “Room Temperature Seat,” “Cold Seat,” and “Scorching Hot Seat.” Not surprisingly, Fickell ended up in the first group.

With whom did he end up? Arkansas Razorbacks head coach Sam Pittman, Florida State Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell, Auburn Tigers head coach Hugh Freeze, and Oklahoma Sooners head coach Brent Venables.

Venables guided the Sooners to a disappointing 6-6 regular season in his third season as head coach of the Oklahoma football program.

The Sooners supporters no longer want him because of this. After finishing with a 13-1 season, Florida State won the ACC championship in 2023.

In 2024, Norvell’s program suffered three consecutive defeats at the hands of unranked opponents.

At 5-7, the Tigers also had a poor season finale. This includes a humiliating 17–7 loss to Vanderbilt at home against Freeze and company. What about Pittman?

Due to their decline under the head coach, the Razorbacks’ supporters are not pleased with his return for the sixth season.

They had enough after losing 7–6 in 2022, 4–8 in 2023, and 7–6 in 2024. However, Fickell has received mixed reviews.

As speculation about Fickell’s possible departure intensifies, another story emerges.

In The Athletic, well-known Wisconsin beat writer Jesse Temple made a prediction that the head coach still has some time left.

The expert estimates that Fickell will have four seasons to demonstrate his worthiness of remaining at Wisconsin.

However, it appears that there are only a few votes in support of the HC.

There is increased support for Wisconsin’s “Fire Fickell” initiative. “It’s a now-or-never situation for the HC,” concurs John Buhler, one of Fansided’s college football gurus. “I have serious doubts about Luke Fickell’s ability to stay at Wisconsin.

Fickell has deteriorated into a pitifully average Power Four head coach over the past two years,” the expert stated.

However, the Badgers would incur significant costs if they were to fire their HC.

Luke Fickell has committed to a seven-year deal back in 2022. His contract is set to expire on March 31, 2031, after he signed a one-year extension in January of last year.

According to the estimates, the Wisconsin HC has the 13th-highest contract buyout in Division I, at $40,186,667.

The Badgers do have some experience, though. They made the decision to split from Paul Chryst back in 2022 after he allegedly agreed to a $11 million buyout.

Let’s watch to see if the Badgers stick to their principles or cut Fickell loose!

 

The Badgers had an ugly collapse at home to snap a five-game winning streak.

 

On a five-game winning streak, the Wisconsin Badgers suffered an ugly collapse in the second half, dropping a 77-73 loss in overtime at the Kohl Center on Saturday, putting a major blow to their Big Ten Championship hopes.

 

It was a slower start for the Badgers in a back-and-forth affair with the Ducks, but a surge midway through the first half created a double-digit lead. Oregon made a major comeback in the second half, cutting a 17-point lead to force overtime with a rapid push in the final minutes, leading to the nail-biting finish.

 

Then, in overtime, the Ducks relied on center Nate Bittle and the Badgers had no answer, struggling to put together success on the offensive end.

 

With the loss, Wisconsin dropped to 21-6 on the season and 11-5 in conference play, falling to fifth in the Big Ten standings behind the Maryland Terrapins.

 

Here are three quick takeaways from Wisconsin’s 77-73 overtime loss to the Oregon Ducks on Saturday.

 

 

Coming into Saturday, the Badgers were seen as 8.5-point favorites over the Ducks. Still, some viewed the game as a potential ‘trap’ game, given that Oregon was coming in on a three-game winning streak and had shifty guards such as Jackson Shelstad that could give Wisconsin some problems.

 

Well, it was a competitive battle over the first eight minutes, as Wisconsin saw success inside, but couldn’t get any of their triples to fall, while Oregon had three threes in the early minutes to get them out to a 17-14 lead with 11:15 to go in the period.

 

From there, though, Wisconsin dominated the half, going on a 24-4 run, which was what they had in the first half of their home win over the Indiana Hoosiers, taking a 38-21 lead with two minutes left in the period.

 

It was a dominant stretch from the Badgers, who saw success in a number of different areas on the court. As expected, star guard John Tonje led the way with 16 of those 24 points, scoring 13 straight at one point to ignite the spark for Wisconsin.

 

The Badgers have played strong complementary basketball throughout the season. But, it’s runs like these that end up separating them from their opponents.

 

The impressiveness of that first-half run made the second-half collapse even more of a struggle, as the Badgers seemed to have all the momentum going into halftime and couldn’t capitalize on the stretch at home.

 

 

As the Ducks slowly chipped at the Badgers lead in the second half, Wisconsin sputtered offensively, as they couldn’t put together the type of run that they had in the first half.

 

But, the true collapse came over the final five minutes, where Wisconsin struggled to break Oregon’s full-court press, while also turning the ball over in the half-court.

 

Wisconsin held a 62-47 lead with just under eight minutes to go. That was cut to seven points within the final five minutes, and disaster started to strike.

 

The Badgers had six turnovers over the final 4:45, with center Steven Crowl committing three, and they really struggled to close out the game over the final minute. Normally, this is a situation that Wisconsin would like to end in, as their strong free throw shooting has closed out close games a couple of times this season.

 

But, the Badgers never got to those free-throw shooting moments, turning the ball over four times in the final two minutes, and the Ducks took advantage with two three-pointers, including the game-tying shot from Jackson Shelstad with 12 seconds remaining.

 

This collapse is one that isn’t expected by a veteran-laden Wisconsin team filled with experience and ball-handling. But, that was the outcome on Saturday, and the Badgers sputtered at the worst time, failing to recover after that.

 

Changing the gameplan

Looking back at the first half, while three-pointers weren’t falling at their usual rate for the Badgers, Wisconsin saw success when putting the ball in the hands of John Tonje and Steven Crowl.

 

Tonje worked well going downhill, going 4/5 inside the arc, while hitting both of his free throws en route to a 16-point first half.

 

And Steven Crowl won the battle against Nate Bittle, getting 10 first-half points while also going 4/5 inside the arc. Crowl forced three fouls against Bittle in the period, limiting Oregon to just seven minutes in the period.

 

However, the Badgers shied away from that in the second half, not setting Crowl much in the post to give him opportunities against Bittle. And that proved costly.

 

Not only could Wisconsin not get much rhythm offensively as Crowl had just two shot attempts in the period, but Bittle really started to get going offensively, scoring 12 second-half points before getting six of Oregon’s 11 in overtime.

 

The Badgers needed to keep the Ducks center in foul trouble. While they had a couple of dribble drives from the guards that didn’t fall, they didn’t ride the hot hand with Crowl and that proved costly, especially early in the period, as Bittle got into a rhythm and took over the game for Oregon.

 

The Wisconsin football program has appointed Marcus Sedberry as the new general manager for the 2025-26 season. With three years of experience in Wisconsin football operations and prior experience at Baylor, Sedberry steps into the role after former GM Max Stienecker moved to USC. His background includes significant involvement in fundraising and strategic project management. Sedberry takes on leadership amidst challenges, including the team’s first missed bowl game since 2001 and a significant player turnover through the transfer portal.

 

By the Numbers

23 players left Wisconsin during the recent transfer portal window.

30 new recruits, including high school players, are set to join the Badgers.

 

The Badgers have only one verbal commitment for the 2026 recruiting class.

Key period for scheduling visits and pursuing prospects is ongoing until April 16.

 

As Sedberry takes charge, he must focus on roster management and securing key recruits to rejuvenate the program. Building relationships with high school prospects and ensuring effective NIL deals will be critical for future success.

 

Bottom Line

Marcus Sedberry’s experience and strategic oversight could be key in redirecting Wisconsin football towards success after a challenging season. His ability to attract talent will determine the team’s trajectory moving forward.

 

 

 

 

Wed, Feb 5, 2025, 3:23 PM GMT·2 min read

MADISON – Wednesday marked the first day of the final signing period for Division I and II football.

 

Wisconsin isn’t expected to add any players from the high school ranks. The Badgers locked down their class in December when they signed 24 high school players during the early period.

 

UW’s class ranks No. 21 nationally, according to Rivals. The Badgers are 25th on 247sports’ list, 27th according to On3 and No. 31 according to ESPN.

 

 

More than half of that group is already on campus taking classes and preparing for spring ball. Here is a look at who is here, who is on the way and who is no longer coming.

 

Wisconsin football commits enrolled and working out

Emmett Bork, TE, 6-6, 240, Oconomowoc, Wis. – Oconomowoc HS

 

 

Cooper Catalano, LB, 6-2, 215, Germantown, Wis – Germantown HS

 

Nicolas Clayton, OLB, 6-5, 215, Gainesville, Fla. – Bucholz, HS

 

Nolan Davenport, OL, 6-6, 290, Massillon, Ohio – Massillon HS

 

Grant Dean, S, 6-1, 185, Neenah, Wis. – Neenah HS

 

Luke Emmerich, S, 6-1, 190, Monticello, Minn. – Monticello HS

 

Eugene Hilton Jr., WR, 6-1, 200, Zionsville, Ind. – Zionsville HS

 

Remington Moss, S, 6-2, 190, Dumfies, Va. – St. Michael the Archangel

 

Torin Pettaway, DL, 6-5, 290, Middleton, Wis. – Middleton HS

 

Michael Roeske, OL, 6-8, 305, Wautoma, Wis. – Wautoma HS

 

Jaimier Scott, S, 6-1, 185, Mount Healthy, Ohio – Mount Healthy HS

 

 

Cairo Skanes, CB, 6-1, 180, Asheville, N.C. – Providence Day HS

 

Carter Smith is a 6-foot-3, 190-pound quarterback who committed to the Wisconsin Badgers from Bishop Verot High School in Fort Myers, Florida.

Carter Smith is a 6-foot-3, 190-pound quarterback who committed to the Wisconsin Badgers from Bishop Verot High School in Fort Myers, Florida. More

Carter Smith, QB, 6-3, 190, Fort Myers, Fla – Bishop Verot HS

 

Xavier Ukponu, DL, 6-3, 300, Denton, Tex. – Guyer HS

 

Hardy Watts, OL, 6-6, 300, Boston – Dexter Southfield

 

Wisconsin football commits who will arrive at the end of the school year

Cam Clark, OL, 6-7, 295, Dexter, Mich. – Dexter HS

 

Nizyi Davis, TE, 6-5, 215, Indianapolis – Lawrence Central HS

 

Sam Lateju, OLB, 6-6, 225, Lagos, Nigeria – Lawrenceville HS (N.J.)

 

Drayden Pavey, DL, 6-3, 295, Cincinnati – Taft HS

 

 

 

Mason Posa, LB, 6-3, 220, Albuquerque – La Cueva HS

 

Logan Powell, OL, 6-05, 290, Phoenix – Brophy Prep Jesuit HS

 

Jahmare Washington, CB, 6-2, 170, Chicago – Morgan Park HS